Yellowface: RF Kuang

I dithered over whether to read this book or not but, swayed by the marketing and the excellent cover, I eventually spent one of my audible credits on it.
The plot in a nutshell – white female author steals a manuscript from a friend, a Chinese female author, when said friend chokes on a pancake and dies. She goes on to re-write some of it, publishes it and is highly successful. Told in the first person by a very unlikeable main character, the book delves deeply into themes of racism, plagiarism, the publishing world and social media trolling as the MC justifies her initial theft and the consequential criminal acts she engages in.
The book starts off well as it recounts the initial theft but degenerates quite quickly into a whining self-justification combined with criticisms of just about everyone except the main character. By the time I reached the two-thirds point, I felt like I was no longer listening to a work of fiction but being subjected to the author’s opinions and prejudices.
An initial five star read deteriorated into a disappointing one star conclusion.